PETER THE WHISTLER
This is a story about a young boy named Peter who loved to whistle. One Christmas, when he was only about five years old, his parents gave him a toy bird as a present. The toy bird would whistle when you touched its beak. Peter started whistling along with the bird and before he knew it, he sounded just like the toy bird. As he got older, he would listen to the sounds of different birds in the yard and imitate their songs. His whistles sounded exactly like the birds! He was so good that when he would whistle a bird song, people would look up at the trees to see where the bird was that was singing. Of course they never could see a bird because it was Peter whistling, not a bird.
He was still whistling bird songs when he was a teenager. One day his mother and her friend, Pat, were sitting on their back porch talking when Peter, who was down in the backyard, started doing his bird whistles. Pat stopped talking and said, “Will you listen to that bird singing up a storm?” Peter’s mother laughed and said, “I’m sure that’s not a bird. It’s probably Peter.” Pat laughed and said, “I bet you are right. He has fooled me so many times.” Then Pat said, “Hey, you know what, a new neighbor moved in next door to me and it turns out that he is a talent scout for that TV show, ‘Who’s Got Talent’. I think I should tell him about Peter’s bird whistling.” Peter’s mother said, “I have seen that show. I think Peter could win that talent contest. He sounds so much like the real birds that he fools everybody.” Pat said she would talk to her neighbor to see if he would be interested in hearing Pete whistle.
A few days later, Pat and her neighbor, the talent scout, came to Peter’s house. “This is Mr. Rogers, the talent scout for Who’s Got Talent,” said Pat. After everyone said hello, Mr. Rogers told Peter that he heard he had quite a talent at imitating bird songs and asked if Peter would whistle a bird call for him. Peter whistled several different bird songs for him. He sounded so good, you would have thought there were birds in the house! Mr. Rogers had a big smile on his face. He couldn’t believe his ears. When Peter was done whistling a few songs, Mr. Rogers said, “Wow Peter! That was great! I thought I was listening to real birds. You really need to be on our talent show. I think you could win, and the prize is $1000.” Peter looked at his mother and father and said, “$1000? That’s a lot of money! But I’ve never been on TV and I’ve never whistled any bird songs in front of a lot of people before. It sounds very scary.” Mr. Rogers agreed with Peter. “Everyone gets stage fright, it’s quite normal. I’ve seen a lot of people who were scared to be on stage, but believe me, after a few seconds, once they started their act, the fear went away.” Peter asked if it was okay if he thought about it and gave him an answer in a couple of days. Mr. Rogers agreed, and started heading for the door. Before Mr. Rogers left, he turned to look at Peter and said, “You really are very talented kid. I think you could win. You just have to believe in yourself that you can do it.” Peter said, “Thank you Mr. Rogers. I appreciate that.”
At supper that night, Peter’s mom and dad talked to him about what a wonderful offer that was to be given the chance to be on TV and win $1000. Peter said, “I know it’s a great offer, but I have never performed in front of a large crowd and never on TV and it just seems very scary. Just even talking about it makes me nervous.” Peter’s mom said, “I understand it can be scary. Like Mr. Rogers said, everyone gets stage fright, but there are things to try to not let it scare you so much. For instance, you can close your eyes while you are whistling, then you won’t see the people in the audience. You can pretend that you are just sitting at home in your backyard calling to the birds.” Peter’s dad agreed, “That’s a great idea. Just close your eyes and you won’t be as scared. Remember, people really enjoy hearing your bird songs so it’s a great opportunity to share that talent with others.” Peter thought for a minute, then looked at his mom and dad and said, “I think I will go on that talent show. If I don’t, I’ll always wonder if I could have done it. I know I’ll be scared, but how many chances will I have to be on TV. I’ve got to at least try and tell myself I can do it.” Peter’s mom and dad both hugged him and said they were proud of him that he wasn’t letting fear stop him from going on the talent show.
A few weeks after Peter’s dad had told Mr. Rogers that Peter agreed to be on the show, Mr. Rogers called to say that he had scheduled Peter to be on the show in three weeks. He added that he thought it might help Peter get over his stage fright to come into the TV studio a week before to look around the studio, see the stage and meet some of the other contestants. Everyone thought that was a good idea, so a week before the show, Peter went to the studio. He met the other contestants who told him that they were scared too, and they shared some of the things they do to get over that fear. One person said he pictures that he is in an empty studio, no audience is there. Another person said she pictures everyone in their underwear and it makes her smile and her fear goes away. Peter added, “My mom said I should just close my eyes and pretend I am sitting in my backyard.” “Now that’s a great idea,” said several of the other contestants.
Before he knew it, it was Saturday, the day of the talent show. All the contestants were backstage practicing their act. Some played musical instruments, some sang and one man juggled knives! Peter thought to himself, “There’s no way I’m going to win. These other contestants are so good,” but then he remembered his dad told him to always think positive and say good things about himself. So he changed his thinking to, “These other contestants are very good, but I’m good too! I’m going to give it my best shot.”
Peter was practicing his whistling when one of the stage hands tapped him on the shoulder and told him to get ready because he was up next. Peter felt his stomach knotting up inside, but he took several deep breaths to calm himself down. He heard the announcer on stage telling the audience about him, and the next thing he knew, he was walking out on stage. The lights were so bright as he stood at the microphone they had put on the stage for him. He remembered what his mom said, and he closed his eyes, pretending to be in his backyard. He wet his lips and started to whistle the bird call of the Red Breasted Robin, then he switched to a Bluejay, then to a Cardinal. He whistled six different bird songs and when he was done, the audience applauded so much the sound seemed to shake the stage. Peter took a bow and walked off stage. He did it! It was over and he did it – he whistled before a big audience on TV! Mr. Rogers came up to him and shook his hand. “You were great, Peter!” “Thanks Mr. Rogers. And you were right – after a few seconds I wasn’t that scared anymore.” Mr. Rogers smiled, then said, “Good luck kid. I’ll be cheering for you to win!”
After the last act was over, the announcer called all the contestants back out to the stage to announce the winner. Peter could not believe his ears when the announcer called his name as the winner of the $1000! All the other contestants pat him on the back and said “Good job, Peter! You were awesome!” The announcer handed Peter ten $100 bills one at a time and Peter’s smile got bigger with each bill he was handed. Peter’s mom and dad came up on stage to congratulate Peter. Everyone gave him big hugs and told him how proud they were of him. The other contestants said to Peter, “All that fear you were worried about paid off – you have $1000!” Peter looked at everyone and said, “I can’t believe I won all this money, it’s great! More than that though, even though I was so afraid to do it, I did it. And it wasn’t really as scary as I made it out to be in my mind. Thank you all for helping me learn how to get over my fear. Now let’s all go out for ice cream to celebrate – my treat!”
Years later, Peter is still whistling bird calls, and even got better doing it. He enjoys going out into the backyard to see how many birds he can get to come when they hear the call. Next time you hear a bird singing, see if you can whistle the same sound. You may be surprised when they answer you back! And remember, don’t ever be afraid to try.
